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Sue Marino
Sue Marino I have chosen to live my life around animals and have worked at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine for the past 18 years. I enjoy the knowledge I gain by working at a teaching and specialty facility. The Newfoundland world has added a lot to my life including some of the best friends anyone could hope for. Both of my children have been involved in the Newfworld. I fee] it helped them learn responsibility, compassion, sportsmanship and friendship. My first Newf in 1982 was a rescue with no manners which led me to obedience class and from there I went on to enjoy many other activities with all of my Newfs. I enjoy draft work, water rescue, rally, freestyle, therapy work and occasionally AKC obedience and confirmation. I enjoy teaching training clinics as well as judging at the mentor level in water and draft. I think that I learn something new every time I teach a workshop or judge a test and my goal is that the participants feel the same. I think it's my Psychology and Education background that creates my enjoyment of learning and sharing my knowledge with other Newfy lovers. I am currently serving on the NCA Working Dog Committee where I have kept the draft test records for the past 9 years. I served on the board of the Newfoundland Club of New England for 8 years as their working dog secretary and another two years as a director. I have served on three National Specialty committees including the upcoming 2008 committee. I have chaired numerous draft and water tests and stewarded at most tests around the Northeast as well as many National Specialty Draft Tests around the country. I think I can positively contribute to the NCA Board as they move forward. TWO ISSUES FACING NCA: One problem I see with the NCA is that it is largely geared to the Newfoundland owners who breed or exhibit. Obviously it needs to address that audience but so often we talk about educating new owners or "pet "owners and yet the NCA is not offering much for these groups. There are many more Newf owners out there who are not NCA members. We need to try to reach them. I recently attended an informal get together of Newfy owners. Some were regional club members, some were not. They said "Why should I pay $75 a year to get four magazines that report about shows, working events and board meetings in which I have no interest?" They want to see educational articles, something that will help them learn more about raising and training their Newfs. We need more health, history and training articles in Newf Tide. Recently I co-authored a training article for Newf Tide. I received a lot of phone calls from NCA members praising the article and stating that that is what is needed more in Newf Tide. People want to learn from Newf Tide, not just see reports on recent events. A better balance of articles would increase our membership and educate more owners, ultimately benefiting their dogs. These articles could also be copied by breeders to share with puppy buyers to introduce new owners to the type of information NCA has to share with them. Another challenge is that the NCA must continue to improve ways to disseminate information. I know that the NCA is working on improving the web site and the database and it's a great start. We need to expand on these efforts to create a place where we can go to see pedigrees, health clearances, titles earned, NCA forms and a list of breeders who comply with the NCA Code of Ethics. We also need a place that is easy to access to educate the public about the Internet puppy market. The Internet market is out of control and we need to have good information readily available for puppy buyers. We need to make it clear to puppy buyers that the NCA has information available to them whether they decide to join or not and explain the perils of Internet puppy buying. A more complete database could also help NCA members volunteering for many jobs where a database of Newfs would be helpful: test secretaries, Health & Longevity, Breeders Education, those who prepare catalogs and many others. Forms could be available for test secretaries, show chairman, etc, to help make their jobs easier. Imagine how many more volunteers we may get if we could tell them that everything they needed to do their job is available on our web site or in our database! The NCA is on the right track with some exciting times ahead. I would be honored to serve on the Board.